University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln USGS Staff -- Published Research US Geological Survey 2007 Late Cenozoic Climate Changes in China’s Western Interior: A Review of Research on Lake Qinghai and Comparison with Other Records Steven M. Colman Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota Duluth, MN 55812, USA Shi-Yong Yua Large Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota Duluth, MN 55812, USA Zhisheng Anc Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, PR China Ji Shend Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China A.C.G. Henderson Environmental Change Research Centre, Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub Part of the Earth Sciences Commons Colman, Steven M.; Yua, Shi-Yong; Anc, Zhisheng; Shend, Ji; and Henderson, A.C.G., "Late Cenozoic Climate Changes in China’s Western Interior: A Review of Research on Lake Qinghai and Comparison with Other Records" (2007). USGS Staff -- Published Research. 278. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/usgsstaffpub/278 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the US Geological Survey at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in USGS Staff -- Published Research by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. ARTICLE IN PRESS Quaternary Science Reviews 26 (2007) 2281–2300 Late Cenozoic climate changes in China’s western interior: a review of research on Lake Qinghai and comparison with other records Steven M. Colmana,b,Ã, Shi-Yong Yua, Zhisheng Anc, Ji Shend, A.C.G. Hendersone aLarge Lakes Observatory, University of Minnesota Duluth, MN 55812, USA bDepartment of Geological Sciences, University of Minnesota Duluth, MN 55812, USA cInstitute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, PR China dNanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China eEnvironmental Change Research Centre, Department of Geography, University College London, London, UK Received 15 August 2006; received in revised form 1 May 2007; accepted 14 May 2007 Abstract We review Late Cenozoic climate and environment changes in the western interior of China with an emphasis on lacustrine records from Lake Qinghai. Widespread deposition of red clay in the marginal basins of the Tibetan Plateau indicates that the Asian monsoon system was initially established by 8 Ma, when the plateau reached a threshold altitude. Subsequent strengthening of the winter monsoon, along with the establishment of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, reflects a long-term trend of global cooling. The few cores from the Tibetan Plateau that reach back a million years suggest that they record the mid-Pleistocene transition from glacial cycles dominated by 41 ka cycles to those dominated by 100 ka cycles. During Terminations I and II, strengthening of the summer monsoon in China’s interior was delayed compared with sea level and insolation records, and it did not reach the western Tibetan Plateau and the Tarim Basin. Lacustrine carbonate d18O records reveal no climatic anomaly during MIS3, so that high terraces interpreted as evidence for extremely high lake levels during MIS3 remain an enigma. Following the Last Glacial Maximum (LSM), several lines of evidence from Lake Qinghai and elsewhere point to an initial warming of regional climate about 14 500 cal yr BP, which was followed by a brief cold reversal, possibly corresponding to the Younger Dryas event in the North Atlantic region. Maximum warming occurred about 10 000 cal yr BP, accompanied by increased monsoon precipitation in the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Superimposed on this general pattern are small-amplitude, centennial-scale oscillations during the Holocene. Warmer than present climate conditions terminated about 4000 cal yr BP. Progressive lowering of the water level in Lake Qinghai during the last half century is mainly a result of negative precipitation–evaporation balance within the context of global warming. r 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd. 1. Introduction these processes requires knowledge about the baseline conditions of the drylands and the dynamics of landscape The dryland ecosystem on the northern Tibetan Plateau change, particularly during past interglacials when climate (Fig. 1A) is vulnerable to climate changes and human boundary conditions were similar to the present. Studying impacts. Degradation of grasslands, contraction of lakes, Late Cenozoic climate changes on the Tibetan Plateau also and desertification have become major environmental is crucial for understanding the complex interaction among problems in recent years, affecting socio-economic devel- the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and opment in the region. Restoring these lands or reversing biosphere of the Earth system on a longer time scale. Long, undisturbed lacustrine sediment sequences are important for addressing these questions. Previous studies reveal that ÃCorresponding author. Large Lakes Observatory, 2205 E. 5th St., University of Minnesota Duluth, MN 55812, USA. Tel.: +1 218 726 6723; sediment cores from Lake Qinghai contained abundant fax: +1 218 726 6979. information about regional environmental history at E-mail address: [email protected] (S.M. Colman). various time scales. Because most of these results appear 0277-3791/$ - see front matter r 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2007.05.002 ARTICLE IN PRESS 2282 S.M. Colman et al. / Quaternary Science Reviews 26 (2007) 2281–2300 Fig. 1. (A) Relief of the western interior of China; numbered circles indicate sites discussed in the text. 1. Lake Qinghai; 2. Xifeng loess site; 3. Qarhan Playa; 4. Kunteyi Playa; 5. Dunde Ice Core; 6. Lake Co Ngoin; 7. Zoige Basin; 8. Guliya Ice Core; 9. Lake Tianshuihai; 10. Lake Man Co; 11. Lake Balikun; 12. Luochuan loess site. (B) Bathymetry of Lake Qinghai. Solid dots show the location of cores discussed in the text. in Chinese-language journals, they are not accessible to the climate history of the area. In 1987, a 155-m-long drill core international community. In addition, future studies of (QH86) from the Erlangjian terrace (Fig. 1B), along with drill cores from the Lake Qinghai Drilling Project, jointly three short piston cores, numbed QH85-14, QH85-15, and funded by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the QH85-16, from the southern sub-basin of the lake, were International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP), re- recovered. 210Pb and 137Cs dating (Huang and Sun, 1989) quire background information about previous studies of of these piston cores, along with a variety of other analyses, climate and environment changes in this area. Hence, this including pollen (Du et al., 1989; Kong et al., 1990; Shan et review of paleoenvironmental studies was undertaken al., 1993), carbon (Kelts et al., 1989; Huang and Meng, before the Lake Qinghai Drilling Project retrieved its cores 1991), elemental and isotope geochemistry (Zhang et al., from Lake Qinghai in late 2005. 1989a, b, 1994; Lister et al., 1991; Sun et al., 1991) have The importance of Lake Qinghai sediment records for been carried out. These proxies reveal Lateglacial to understanding past global changes has been increasingly Holocene changes in lake hydrology and catchment recognized since the 1870s (cf. Chen et al., 1990), due to its environment associated with the advance and retreat of unique geographical location (Fig. 1A). Preliminary the Asian summer monsoon front (Wang and Shi, 1992; geological and geomorphologic mapping in the lake area Wei and Gasse, 1999; Yu and Kelts, 2002). were performed during the first half of the 20th century The foci of ongoing paleolimnological studies are on (Shi et al., 1958; Chen et al., 1964). However, limnological high-resolution changes in lake hydrology and regional studies using modern techniques did not start until the climate, based on multiple stratigraphic analyses of short 1960s, when fundamental data on lake biology, water cores, i.e. QING-6, QHE-2, QING-10, QHN3/1, QH0407- chemistry, and hydrology were first obtained during a C, and GAHAI-1 (Fig. 1B). A group from the University multi-disciplinary expedition (Lanzhou Institute of Geol- of Lanzhou and University College London (Guo et al., ogy and Chinese Academy of Sciences (LZIG-CAS), 1979). 2002a; Henderson et al., 2003; Shi et al., 2003; Zhang et al., Yang and Jiang (1965) examined Quaternary vegetation 2003; Henderson, 2004), and one from the Institute of history by analyzing pollen assemblages of a 210-m-long Geography and Limnology, CAS, (Shen et al., 2001; Liu et drill core (QH5) on the Erlangjian terrace (Fig. 1B). al., 2002; Zhang et al., 2002a, b, 2004; Liu et al., 2003a, b, c; Interest continued to increase in the 1980s. Approximately Shen et al., 2005) have played leading roles in this wave of 80 cores were drilled around the lake by the Qinghai investigation. However, systematic studies of modern Geological and Mineral Resource Administration. Two of conditions and limnological processes are rare (Chinese these cores (DH-54 and DH-64) reached depths of 500 and Academy of Science Lanzhou (CAS-LZ), Research Center 300 m below the sediment surface, respectively, and thus for Resource and Environment of Western China, Chinese provide long potential records of Quaternary climate Academy of Sciences (RCREWC-CAS), 1994). Numerical changes. Coordinated by the Institute for Salt Lake models have been used to try to understand the hydro- Studies, CAS, a Sino-Swiss-Australian cooperative project logical and chemical evolution of the lake under various was implemented in 1984, aiming to elucidate the recent scenarios of climate forcing (Qin and Huang, 1998a, b; Yan ARTICLE IN PRESS S.M. Colman et al. / Quaternary Science Reviews 26 (2007) 2281–2300 2283 et al., 2002), although few data exist to constrain such can be attributed to the Tibetan uplift (An, 2000), which models. raised the plateau surface to its present altitude and thus Here we compile and synthesize previously published gave rise to the modern Asian summer monsoon.